Patrick administration considers turning commuter rail over to MBTA

Tuesday

Mar 1, 2011 at 12:01 AMMar 1, 2011 at 1:23 AM

Patrick administration officials are eyeing new management – and possibly a state takeover – for the commuter rail system after a winter marred by a string of delayed and canceled trains and equipment failures.

Kyle Cheney

Patrick administration officials are eyeing new management – and possibly a state takeover – for the commuter rail system after a winter marred by a string of delayed and canceled trains and equipment failures.

Lt. Gov. Tim Murray said the MBTA, a state agency, is eyeing a potential takeover of commuter rail operations when the Massachusetts Bay Commuter Railroad Company’s contract expires in June 2013.

“We’re going to look at all the options,” Murray said. “Can we do things more efficiently and at the same time ensure that we’re meeting the needs of our customers? Is it something we can do internally? Is it something we want to do internally? What are the pros and cons of it?”

A new solicitation for commuter rail service is expected to begin in late 2011 and extend into 2012. Murray said at least two or three private entities had expressed interest in managing the commuter rail.

MBCR began providing commuter rail service to MBTA customers in 2003, when it won a contract and succeeded Amtrak as the state’s rail operator. In January 2010, the board of the MBTA authorized a two-year, $559 million extension of the company’s contract, pushing it past an initial expiration of June 30, 2011. The extension was granted along with MBTA promises of technological upgrades at stations and repairs to the state’s rail fleet.

At the time, commuter rail officials described concerns about the age of its fleet and the state of repair of its equipment. According to MBCR’s web site, the Massachusetts rail network is the fifth largest of its kind in the country.

Focus on system performance intensified this week after a Boston-to-Worcester train broke down Monday, resulting in a nearly three-hour delay. MBCR officials cited faulty equipment on a 24-year-old locomotive and offered a refund to all passengers on that train and a second train delayed by the breakdown.

“Significant delays like the one that occurred yesterday trigger an immediate examination of protocols and procedures. After further review today, MBCR realizes the decision to return the locomotive to service was a mistake and that yesterday’s delay could have been prevented,” MBCR General Manager Hugh Kiley Jr. said in a statement.

“MBCR staff members who made that decision did so in good faith, based upon information that was readily available, with the goal of providing uninterrupted service to all commuter rail service traveling in and out of South Station. In hindsight, a more prudent course of action was warranted because the locomotive experienced a mechanical problem earlier in the day. While the final outcome was clearly not intended, the locomotive should not have been returned to service. For this, MBCR apologizes.”

Murray agreed that many of the commuter rail’s issues are related to the age of its equipment.

“This was caused by a train that had some mechanical difficulties in the morning. They thought they had fixed it,” Murray said, noting that the average age of the state’s locomotive fleet is 25 years old and that half of all delays are caused by mechanical failures. “We have plans now that over the next two or three years we will have 30 new locomotives.”

However, Murray said some blame for Monday’s breakdown falls at the feet of MBCR management.

“There are also management decisions sometimes that aren’t the best. The delay last night was also one of them,” he said.

Murray said those decisions would be a factor in picking the next contractor for the commuter rail, or deciding whether to bring the system – as well as the numerous labor unions that work with MBCR – into state government.

An MBTA spokesman said the agency is “developing an analysis of what it would take to bring the operation of the commuter rail system in house.”

“This analysis will be of assistance in the coming weeks and months, as a decision is made on how to best proceed with the operation of commuter rail service after the existing contract with MBCR expires,” said the spokesman, Joe Pesaturo.

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